Keeping Score: Small' makes a bigger impact than super'

BELIEVE ME, I have nothing against big businesses or corporate America. Sure, there have been occasions of greed and deception over the years ... but this country’s rise through the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s and into the 20th century was fueled by the burning desire for exceptionalism by companies that grew to mammoth proportions.

Ford, General Motors, Apple, AT & T, Walmart, Boeing and Proctor & Gamble are all names that are synonymous with America’s supremacy atop the world’s economic ladder.

However, there is a time and place for everything in this economy. All big companies started as small businesses. And the small businesses of America were recognized on November 24, the day after Black Friday, with an event called Small Business Saturday. Americans tipped their hats — and hopefully opened their pocketbooks — to those small, independent businessmen and women who provide more jobs than any other sector of the economy.

It is a vital reminder that so many big things started with the small idea of an entrepreneur, who dared to take a chance. It is the story of America.

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SO HOW DOES THIS figure into everyday life in Montgomery County?

Easy.

There is a simmering issue that is about to boil over and roll down Fayette Street in Conshohocken — like hot lava from an active volcano.

It involves the proposed building of a Super Wawa on the property that once was the E.F. Moore Chevrolet dealership.

Again, I have nothing against the fine chain of Wawa stores that can be found up and down the East Coast, as far south as Florida. I visit them on a regular basis. It is easy. There is no shortage of them.

But, is one needed in the middle of a residential stretch of the main street of Conshohocken — a town that has gone through an amazing reincarnation in recent years?

LONG BEFORE the townhouses were built ... before the quaint restaurants and lively pubs became trendy ... before the office buildings rose high above the Schuylkill River ... before the yuppies moved in ... Conshohocken was a tired and worn example of small town decay. The Alan Wood Steel mill had closed. The dependent side-businesses weren’t far behind.

And a documentary was made for television (early ’70s) decrying the death of a blue collar small town. It was a sad situation.

But there were those who believed in reincarnation. And they were all small business owners.

It started with the ones who refused to leave. Their families had been the lifeblood of Conshohocken commerce for years. The family names are familiar — Moore, Flocco, DeMedio, Caparo, Murray, Totaro, Snear, Schank, Gambone, etc. They had already invested their time, sweat and money in Conshohocken.

Then came a new wave of businesses in the over the last 25 years — ones that believed in the revitalization of the town. The most visible are the many restaurants that have attracted so many visitors to the town — from the Main Line, from all over Montgomery County, from Philadelphia. There are the ones just off Fayette Street — like Spamps and Spampinato’s, Coyote Crossing, Pepperoncini and Trattoria Totaro. And the ones that line the main thoroughfare — from Stella Blue, at the entrance to the Schuylkill Expressway — past The Boathouse, the Great American Pub, Black Fish, Fayette Street Grill, Chiangmai, Win Wah, and Stone Rose.

TODAY Conshohocken is alive and well ... and thriving. So much so that a major corporation like Wawa wants a piece of the action — even though it already has two smaller Wawa stores at either end of the town.

And nobody should be against free enterprise.

But the new Super Wawa would be in stark contrast to the setting that exists on Fayette Street currently. It is a picturesque co-existing environment of small businesses, the previously mentioned eateries and — at the top of the hill near the proposed Wawa site — a number of large, well-kept homes.

It would pull trucks and cars off the Expressway with the cheap gas prices that Wawa usually offers. Traffic patterns would change. The roar of diesel engines on Fayette Street is not a welcome tune.

And a number of businesses that have loyally supported the newly energized life in Conshohocken would be hurt. The convenience of the heavily advertised Shorti Hoagie at Wawa would take away from the lunch crowd who usually patronize places like Lenny’s Deli for a tasty roast pork sandwich, the Casmar Cafe for a great cheesesteak or Tony and Joe’s Pizzeria for a couple of slices of their specialty.

Robin Gupta, who opened Guppy’s a lively pub on Elm and Maple Street more than seven years ago, has become heavily involved with his Conshohocken neighbors. Although he doesn’t see the new Wawa affecting his bottom line, he sympathizes with the rest of the businesses.

“Conshohocken has a very special feel to it,” said Gupta, who is in the final stages of preparation to open another Guppy’s in the area. “I didn’t grow up here but it didn’t take me long to become a part of it. The town is a close-knit community that welcomes visitors but works even harder to take care of its own.”

GAry DeMedio, who grew up in Conshohocken and has worked there in the real estate business all his adult life, has a unique viewpoint. “I’ve listened to both sides and respect Wawa as a company but I feel the need to preserve the small town character, integrity and peronality of Conshohocken.”

Not every business owner in Conshohocken feels the same way. Some feel that it is impossible to stop progress. But progress doesn’t have to interfere with an established, cultivated atmosphere which has produced a positive result in an environment that reversed a bad situation.

Supporting the small business owner in America — when possible — is good for everyone.